2 pieces of fabric - each 9" x 2.25" (the ones in the picture are far bigger than that, sorry - I was experimenting)

Two circular calyx-shaped pieces of green fabric - mine were about 1.75" diameter and cut with a random number of sepals (the pointy things)

One double-leaf shaped piece of green fabric - each of my leaves was about 1" long.

A long piece of elastic hair-tie, or black garter elastic- the length doesn't matter.

Thread and a needle

Craft glue.

Note: For the calyxes and the leaves, I used some synthetic suede scraps I've had for a hundred years. It reminds me of the stuff they put on billiard/pool tables, but less radioactive-colored. You could use wool felt or anything that doesn't fray.

Step 1

Fold one of the fabric pieces in half lengthwise, wrong sides facing.

Step 2

Fold down a corner of the folded edge, and then fold a bit of the short edge over that. This is the middle of the rose bud.

Step 3

Thread a needle, knot the thread, and sew down your fold, at the unfolded edge of the fabric strip.

Begin making a loose roll around the folded bit, stitching along the bottom. Of course you should use thread of a matching color, not, say, white thread on black fabric like I did. My weird thread color choice is purely for visibility in the photos.

The top of the rose bud should be loose and irregular. It is the bottom of the rose bud that will be tightly gathered. So like this:

Not like this:

This is not a rose bud - this is sushi.

Which is what you will get if you roll too tightly.

So try not to.

Step 4

When you get to the end of the strip, tuck the short edge inwards and fold it down towards the bottom of the rose bud and stitch.

Set aside.

Step 5

Made two small slits about 1.4" apart in the center of one calyx.

Slip the double-leaf through the slit, right sides of leaf and calyx facing.

Step 6

Locate the middle of the length of elastic.

Slip the elastic through the loop on top of the leaf and position the calyx-leaf at the mid-point of the elastic.

Glue to secure.

Step 7

Flip the calyx-leaf-elastic assembly over, and spread glue on the wrong side of the calyx.

Place rose bud centrally on the calyx and wrap the sepals (the petals of the calyx) around the bottom of the rose bud. Hold for a few seconds to let glue dry.

Step 8

Make another rosebud from the other strip of fabric.

Step 9

Make another pair of slits in the other calyx.

Thread the elastic through the calyx and tie both ends of the elastic together in a knot.

Position the calyx as close to the knot as possible.

You can also tuck the ends of the knot through the loop and onto the wrong side of the calyx:

Place the two large pieces of fabric right sides together and sew two lines of stitches around the perimeter. Use 1/4" seam allowance for each, so that the total seam allowance is 1/2".

Leave a 4"-5" opening along one straight edge, backstitching where you began and ended. You have just made a narrow casing along the edge of the fabric for the wire.

Step 2

Notch/snip around the outer seam allowance of the rounded edges.

Step 3

Using the pliers, make a small rounded loop at one end of the wire to facilitate smooth movement through the casing.

Step 4

Insert this rounded end of the wire through the opening and between the two stitching lines.

When the wire reaches the rounded end, bend the wire into a curve and continue to "thread" it all the way through the casing

till it emerges at the other end of the opening.

Step 5

Turn right side out. This step might take a little while (like 2-3 minutes, not hours) so be patient. It helps to gather the fabric around the wire as you go i.e. it's OK if a lot of the wire re-emerges from the opening as you work.

If you're thinking: why not turn the thing right side out and then insert the wire? I am sad to report that I tried that first, with three different thicknesses of fabric and it did not work. Too much bunching at the ends for the wire to move through. If anyone manages to do this, tell me, please, OK?

Here is one end done.

When you get both ends done, push as much of the wire back into the opening as possible to stretch the fabric taut over the wire frame. Then cut off the little rounded loop at the end of the wire with the wire cutter/pliers.

Twist both ends of the wire together, overlapping about 1.5"- 2". Cut off the excess with the wire cutter/pliers.

Step 6

Wrap the small piece of scrap fabric around the twisted wire to cushion it, using craft glue to secure.

Step 7

Tuck the wrapped wire back into the opening.

Fold in the seam allowance of the opening and top-stitch it shut- you can see this in the next picture in Step 8.

Step 8

You are now going to make a giant buttonhole in the center of the bun maker. If your machine has a superlong buttonhole foot, go for it. Otherwise, you can use the old-fashioned method of making buttonholes with just the zig-sag stitch.

Measure and mark a line 2.5" long (or 1.75" long for the child's version) in the center of your bun maker.

Sew around the opening about 1/16" away from the line all round.

Step 9

Cut along the line and between the rows of stitches flanking it.

Step 10

Use a very close zig-zag stitch to seal in the fraying edges, reinforcing at the ends of the opening. You can also zig-zag before cutting, the way we usually do buttonholes. I did it this way almost like an overlocking stitch because of the amount of wear and tear this opening will undergo when the bun maker is in use.

Hello and Welcome!

I am a gratefully unemployed mom of three girls, all of whom are growing up much too soon! I like piles of warm, fresh laundry, the smell of salt air near the beach where I used to live, making lists, anything round (like heads) and the quiet evenings sitting with the man of the house after the kids are in bed.

Copyright

You are welcome to link to this blog and to any post on this blog and use ONE or TWO photos for that purpose. Do not use photos of my children. You are welcome to pin images from my blog, if those photos do not have my children's faces in them. Please contact me if you want to use the text on, or more photos from, this blog. Do not post my tutorials on your sites. Do not translate tutorials from this blog into other languages on your site. The ideas and instructions in the tutorials are free - but please use them to only make stuff for yourself or for gifts and not to sell. Ta! For more information, this and this might be helpful.